Elegant + Timeless Country Chic Wedding in New Jersey
A personalized wedding is a happy wedding, and a happy wedding is one that has SMP written all over it. Take this lovely from the lens of Elisabeth Millay Photography that is both intimately sincere and sweetly personal. From the Bride's handsewn something blue, to the DIY'ed details, every single image is sure to send you into a pinning frenzy, and we've got it all in THE VAULT!
From the Bride... My husband and I wanted a wedding that incorporated elements important to us, and this began with finding a venue that captured who we are as people, and as a couple. Since I grew up in the countryside in NJ, I knew I wanted our wedding to reflect this, and Hamilton Farm Golf Club was just 10 minutes from where I grew up. On top of having the chance of having our family and friends come to my hometown to celebrate our wedding, Hamilton Farm also houses the United States Equestrian Team, and used to be a location where many events and shows were held. I grew up riding horses nearby, and this venue brought together important aspects of my life - horses, the countryside, and my hometown. Hamilton Farm's rolling hills and beautiful mansion was the perfect, peaceful place for our nuptials, and we knew this as soon as we stepped foot on the grounds.
In addition to finding the right venue, we knew we wanted to incorporate personalized elements into our day. Having our family and friends with us was the most important thing, and we wanted our wedding to be a relaxing and fun evening for everyone. We wanted an intimate wedding so that we could spend as much time with our guests as possible, and we achieved just that. Our ceremony was held outside in the sunshine and our cocktail hour under the trees outside the mansion. Afterwards, our guests moved to the beautiful tent, where delicious food was served and topped off with a red velvet wedding cake as well as homemade sweets made by our family and friends. Our love of our dogs was brought into the day by naming our specialty cocktails in their honor - the "Windy Whiskey" and "Morkie Margarita." Instead of a traditional favor, we made a donation in honor of our guests to an organization near and dear to us, Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Our labrador (Wind) was a Guiding Eyes puppy whom we were fortunate to adopt after she was released from their program, and Guiding Eyes has remained a cause we are both passionate about.
My mom's artistic abilities came to good use, and also allowed for our wedding to have the special, personalized touches that we hoped for. From hand sewing my initials into my wedding gown as my "something blue," hand writing all of our wedding signs, creating our programs, designing and putting together our window seating chart, creating the belt for my gown, to putting personalized touches on all of our stationary - these touches made our wedding feel like us. My dad's landscaping artistry was brought in through urns at the altar and in the reception. My husband's love of reptiles was tied in through my gift to him on our wedding day - lizard socks! And his love of acoustic guitar was incorporated through a guitarist playing throughout our ceremony and cocktail hour. Both my bouquet and my husband's boutonniere were wrapped with remnants of my wedding gown. Since my great grandmother had passed away, I was fortunate to wear her hair clip on my wedding day. My husband and I made the corn hole boards for the cocktail hour (which was quite a project!), and my mom made the corn hole bags. And, one of my favorite parts of our ceremony - when my uncle and godfather read one of his poems. It was all of these elements and more that made our wedding feel special and unique to us.
We had the most perfect September weather on our wedding day and we were lucky we had no rain. It all still feels like a dream! While I don't think there is any advice that can fully prepare any bride for the many overwhelming emotions of her wedding day, my hope for other brides is to try to remember the little, important moments that day, because those are the ones worth cherishing. Seeing your partner for the first time, stealing a moment alone together prior to entering your reception, going for a walk after your ceremony and gushing all about it, sitting with your mom or dad that morning before all of the craziness, spending time with your besties while you get ready - these, and more, are the things that you will remember. While I have several favorite moments of the day, my very favorite was just after we said “I do” and we looked at each other as we walked down the aisle as our guitarist played a special song that he learned just for us, Tommy Emmanuel's "Angelina."
We were fortunate to have such amazing vendors, and our day turned out beautifully. We wouldn't have changed a thing - in fact, we wish we could live it over and over again!
In addition to finding the right venue, we knew we wanted to incorporate personalized elements into our day. Having our family and friends with us was the most important thing, and we wanted our wedding to be a relaxing and fun evening for everyone. We wanted an intimate wedding so that we could spend as much time with our guests as possible, and we achieved just that. Our ceremony was held outside in the sunshine and our cocktail hour under the trees outside the mansion. Afterwards, our guests moved to the beautiful tent, where delicious food was served and topped off with a red velvet wedding cake as well as homemade sweets made by our family and friends. Our love of our dogs was brought into the day by naming our specialty cocktails in their honor - the "Windy Whiskey" and "Morkie Margarita." Instead of a traditional favor, we made a donation in honor of our guests to an organization near and dear to us, Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Our labrador (Wind) was a Guiding Eyes puppy whom we were fortunate to adopt after she was released from their program, and Guiding Eyes has remained a cause we are both passionate about.
My mom's artistic abilities came to good use, and also allowed for our wedding to have the special, personalized touches that we hoped for. From hand sewing my initials into my wedding gown as my "something blue," hand writing all of our wedding signs, creating our programs, designing and putting together our window seating chart, creating the belt for my gown, to putting personalized touches on all of our stationary - these touches made our wedding feel like us. My dad's landscaping artistry was brought in through urns at the altar and in the reception. My husband's love of reptiles was tied in through my gift to him on our wedding day - lizard socks! And his love of acoustic guitar was incorporated through a guitarist playing throughout our ceremony and cocktail hour. Both my bouquet and my husband's boutonniere were wrapped with remnants of my wedding gown. Since my great grandmother had passed away, I was fortunate to wear her hair clip on my wedding day. My husband and I made the corn hole boards for the cocktail hour (which was quite a project!), and my mom made the corn hole bags. And, one of my favorite parts of our ceremony - when my uncle and godfather read one of his poems. It was all of these elements and more that made our wedding feel special and unique to us.
We had the most perfect September weather on our wedding day and we were lucky we had no rain. It all still feels like a dream! While I don't think there is any advice that can fully prepare any bride for the many overwhelming emotions of her wedding day, my hope for other brides is to try to remember the little, important moments that day, because those are the ones worth cherishing. Seeing your partner for the first time, stealing a moment alone together prior to entering your reception, going for a walk after your ceremony and gushing all about it, sitting with your mom or dad that morning before all of the craziness, spending time with your besties while you get ready - these, and more, are the things that you will remember. While I have several favorite moments of the day, my very favorite was just after we said “I do” and we looked at each other as we walked down the aisle as our guitarist played a special song that he learned just for us, Tommy Emmanuel's "Angelina."
We were fortunate to have such amazing vendors, and our day turned out beautifully. We wouldn't have changed a thing - in fact, we wish we could live it over and over again!
